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11-Year-Old Boy Finds Intruder In New Jersey Home

WAYNE, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- An 11-year-old boy in Wayne, New Jersey got quite the surprise when he walked into his house and ran into an intruder.

The encounter happened just before 3:30 p.m. Monday when Allan Shneyderman came home from school.

"I hear a noise -- someone shuffling through a paper or something, or he's trying to look through drawers," Allan told CBS2's Christine Sloan.

Video shows the sixth grader going immediately into the room with the burglar, not knowing he was there.

"Then when i look around the corner there's this man with a hoodie, black shirt, black jeans, and yellowish shoes standing there just looking at me."

Allan said the suspect tried to hide in a closet.

"My heart immediately started pounding," Allan said. "When he saw me he took off."

Allan then ran out to a neighbor's house. Gail DeGraaf then called police.

11-year-old interrupts burglary inside home. We just finished an interview with him. More at 5.

Posted by Christine Sloan on Tuesday, October 18, 2016

"I said, 'Everything OK?' He said, 'No, there is a stranger in my house.'"

The suspect -- identified as Thomas Coughlin of Pompton Plains -- is under arrest.

CBS2's Sloan asked Allan what he would say to the intruder.

"I mean I wish that he would just be a normal person and not decide to steal things and be civilized," Allan said.

Police said surveillance footage in the home captured the man entering through a rear sliding glass patio door, walking through the home and then fleeing.

Allan said the burglar got away with just his cellphone. Allan added he was more concerned about his grandmother who had stepped outside for a minute.

"I was also happy I caught him before he stole anything," Allan said.

No injuries were reported.

Coughlin is being held on $50,000 bail.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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